its getting close to turkey season
 

i ve got 4 weeks till turkey season here in mississippi so i thought i d better remind you fellas... i ve got to get me some 8 ga rounds made up and some for the 10 ga s and the 12 s... i m gona load upsome 2 s and 4 s in each the 10 and the 8 but will probably load 4 and 6 s in the 12...sure woulda like to have got some of those 4 inch brass shells from rocky mountain but they will not get here in time for opening day but mite get here by the end of the season.i think a 3 oz load in the 4 inch shell will make a good turkey load...i hope my turkey hunting goes better than my deer hunting for sure... charlie

That is right. I can hardly wait.

I have thought about trying some turkey hunting. Might be just my sport. You don't have to walk around much and I have lots of shotguns. I already have some 8s loaded up with no 4s. Will have to ask around and see if I can find out were there are some turkeys around here.

Wayne if you go a little north to some national forests, it ought to be beautiful turkey territory.

How far north mills. I am going to have to check into the reg's in goerga. Would probable have better luck hunting fatm land bordered by forest lands.

Ok guys, stop it, we just received another foot of snow and turkey hunting is a ways off:crying:

75 degrees here tomorrow. He he.

i think a 3 oz load in the 4 inch shell will make a good turkey load... charlie[/QUOTE]

Charlie,

You are not supposed to kill the whole flock at one time.:eek:

I may try a 28 gauge this spring. Kinda like bow hunting... gotta get 'em real close.

Head shots only boys.


Still a long way to go til springtime around here.



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I'm with you Charlie. I can hardly wait. This year the Parker Hammer 8 gauge is going out. May need to get some tips on some turkey loads. The W C Scott * will have to stay home this time.

Well, the season is a good month away for us.:crying:

boy thats a long time mills...its just short of 4 weeks for us... charlie

Sounds like both seasons start about the same time.

Charlie that's a 4 gauge load in an 8 gauge shell. I can't imagine what something like that might do to the stock on that gun. It's yours obviously, but I'd sure be careful.

DLH

thanks for your concern destrey... i m keeping the powder cut down in fact i loaded up some 3 oz loads this morning shot the old gun useing 40 grains of blue dot then upped it to 45 grains..not much kick from the 40 grain load and the 45 grain load was just right..have not patterned them yet but will soon.. i know you would not want this old gun back with a broke stock..ha but really i ve read up a whole lot on the use of 2 3/4 oz and 3 oz loads in a 8 ga atkins wrote of his useing the 2 3/4 oz loads and said he would not be afraid of the 3 oz loads..a 15 lb 8 will handle this load with ease...45 grains of bluedot is a pleasant load to shoot with 3 ounce of shot...charlie

Talking with a guy yesterday who said that his property is overloaded with turkey. He went on to say that they were horrible eat'n. Is that true? I've never eaten a wild turkey (drunk some).

The fellow said that he took some and raised them, feeding them corn, etc and they were pretty good. Said the dark meat is really dark. Said his dog wouldn't eat a genuine wild turkey. Are they really that bad?

Yes they are horrible eating. Send any you have to me and I will eat it for you.

Ha! Eat a wild turkey and the store bought ones won't ever taste as good.

I'll generally toss the wings and drumsticks... sometimes the thighs are good if you don't overcook them.
The breast meat is great! Way better than storebought... has a wonderful "nutty" flavor, but keep it moist - don't overcook it either or it will be too dry.

From what I've been told the only part worth eating on the Osceola are the thighs. Everything else is muscle. Hopefully I'll get a chance to find out come March the 23rd.

All of a wild turkey is good. Sometimes they may eat wild onions later in the spring and there may be that taste there.

But while growing up and even now my favorite part of a turkey was the dark meat on the legs made into a hash.

Same with geese, which have the same tough legs. Cook them a long time until the meat falls off the bone, pick out the meat from the leaders that will fall out (never seen so many), cut it up. Cook up small cubed potatoes, onions, add meat, flour and water beaten/made into a thickening, lots of salt and pepper, a good portion of butter (and a little Old Bay), simmer, and it is the greatest meal with peanut butter toast. Guess what I'm eating now?

Wife is making me clean the freezer from springs past.

We had the chef at Brays Island cook a wild turkey my Dad shot once and it was out of this world. Like any food, I am sure it can be screwed up as well.

wild turkey is very good if prepared right..i m with mills any game can be made good or bad..i m one of those fellas that can make it taste bad... our season is two weeks away from this saturday..march 15 th to be exact..i just hope hope i get a chance to try the 3 oz load on a big tom.. charlie

You fellas need to move to Florida. I put one in the back of the truck this past Sunday. It was my youngest's last youth season hunt as he turns 16 this year. Opening day for us older fellas in Sat! BTW, my son's bird had a 11.5 beard and 1.5 spurs so I think he already took this season's record.

I was at my neighbors today who has turkeys. He said they were already breeding. About three weeks ago I had just got out of bed and looked out the window. There was a hen and a gobbler about 20 feet from the house. I thought about killing him but then decided it was just too cold to mess with it. I hear it is much better than pen raised birds. I see several different flocks regularly but I bet they will be gone into hiding soon. We will see. I may hunt them this year for the first time. There are some really big ones around here. The one in my backyard did not look so good. I have been watching seven very large ones for several years now. This winter they don't look so well. I think they are getting old like me and now I am seeing only five in that pasture. One flock usually has about twenty eight to thirty birds others only eight or ten. I like to keep an eye on them. If they don't taste no better than those from the grocery store you all can have my share. Gerald

The breast meat definitely has a great 'nutty' flavor. You should try it at least once.

ray i bet that record on that turkey holds for this season..congratulations to your son and you...charlie

Pressure cooking the breast meat guarantees moistness. Also braising in a dutch oven is another good way to cook wild turkey.

a wild turkey really makes good dressing too..thanks for the cooking tips john....charlie

turkey season should have opened this morning lord the sun is shineing and about 65 outside..them old gobblers got to be feeling good this morning..lordy what i would nt give two be in the woods a chaseing one of them bad boys...charlie

April 21 for us.

Ever try deep frying the whole bird in peanut oil? It's pretty darn good, very moist and doesn't take long to cook.

This year going to use a Harrington & Richardson dbl. 10ga. that I bought last fall. Looking forward to chasing those critters this spring..................

Yeah, those deep fat turkey fryers were popular about five years ago, then people took up tipping them over by mistake which cooked them from the knee caps down. Lawsuits galore.

Next season I'm going to my property in Northern Calif, which is coated with Turkey. I'll shoot them with my GH...or maybe my Sterlingworth which has an extremely tight full choked barrel. Then I'll see if my wife can cook one. I'm a partner in 1300 acres...hard hunting tho...the place is covered with poison oak.

your one lucky fella to have a lot of turkeys on his place..as you this is my favorite bird or game to hunt...the turkey as become a legend he is as sharp eyed as a eagle and can hear a pin drop..it has been sais if a turkey could smell as good as a deer it would be almost impossible to get...only 7 days left till i can chase this magnificent bird again...think i m gona tote a tite choked 12 for the first day too...charlie

Last year, hunting turkeys at my cousin's farm in Ohio, a mature section of hardwoods we hunted had an carpet-like understory of poison ivy as far as we could see. When we were sitting in it calling and watching birds the poison ivy was almost up to our shoulders.

You go where the birds are!

Neither of us got 'the itch'... but we were very careful handling our hunting clothes when we came in.

We do a good bit of controlled burning in these parts which makes turkey hunting much more pleasant. No crackling of leaves, no poison ivy and fewer ticks and redbugs. The downside here is the land is flat and open and the turkeys can see for a long way around.

WARNING:

DO NOT STAND DOWNWIND OF BURNING POISON IVY----- You WILL wind up in the hospital with SEVERE respiratory problems.

Yikes! That makes sense. I have not participated in controlled burning in years, but will remember that.

Geez. I sure hope you are not speaking from experience.:eek:

Not my own experience, but that of a very close childhood friend who came very close to losing his life due to the severe inflamation, pus, and swelling in his lungs. He is still highly susceptible to pneumonia even today.

That is scary. I have never been a victim of that stuff and hope I never am. Dad has a fair amount of it in his woods and I don't like walking through it. Julia's family farm has very little of it but that is now leased out.

This will help get everyone in the mood.